Keeping Up With Technology

EXTRUSION: World’s Tiniest Blown Film Line
Labtech Engineering from Thailand (which has several U.S. distributors) displayed at NPE2012 what it says is the world’s smallest, fully functional blown film line, equipped with a horizontal extruder.

MATERIALS: Super-Low-Gloss Acrylic With Soft Touch
WEB EXCLUSIVE: What’s said to be the lowest-gloss of any PMMA on the market, plus a pleasant soft touch, are offered by new Altuglas HFI-10 Super Matt from Arkema’s Altuglas International, subsidiary (U.S. office in Bristol, Pa.). The unique matte finish of this resin when extruded is retained after thermoforming.

Foaming Developments Aplenty in Extrusion
At NPE2012, Macro Engineering and Technology, Mississauga, Ont., launched new technology to extrude foamed films in what it describes as an “environmentally friendly process” that uses inert gas as the foaming agent.

Chevron Phillips Announces PE Plant Location
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., The Woodlands, Tex., has chosen a site near its Sweeny facility in Old Ocean, Tex., for two new polyethylene plants to accompany a planned 3.3-billion-lb/yr ethane cracker at Cedar Bayou in Baytown, Tex.

Another Big Backer for Biobased PEF Bottles
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Avantium in the Netherlands has signed its second major partnership for using its new catalytic process to convert plant sugars into furanic precursors for a new polyester bottle resin.

MATERIALS AT NPE: All Market Sectors Benefit from Large Crop of New Materials
Higher-performance and easier processing PE film resins for packaging, a one-pass crosslinked PE for photovoltaic (PV) wire and cable, several higher-performing nylons and TPEs, “greener” plastics, and enhanced styrenic and PC resins are among the new materials that made their debut at the big show in Orlando, Fla., last month.

Resin Prices

Price Relief in Commodity Resins
Combination of slowed global demand, build-up in resin suppliers’ inventories, and projected drops in feedstock prices are expected to provide some price relief at least through the second quarter.